Rodgers: Stu must sort out deal stand-off tofindform
BRENDAN Rodgers believes it will be difficult for Stuart Armstrong to find the form of last season until his contract situation is sorted out.
Celtic have tabled an offer – “a good offer,” said Rodgers – that the player has so far not taken and the Parkhead manager believes the player has been wrongly advised as to what the best course of action is.
Currently, there have been no formal offers tabled for Armstrong but the expectation is that the player will wait until the final days of the window to see if that changes.
Armstrong was arguably Celtic’s best player in the latter months of the season but so far has been unable to rediscover that form.
“I have regular chats with Stuart,” said Rodgers. “He is someone that I really respect as a person and I really respect the development that he made as a player last season.
“What worried me the other day was that I saw something in a player that I hadn’t seen from back when I first came in.
“Just a lack of confidence, nothing behaviourally. It’s just when you see someone’s confidence being affected.
“When you see a sort of nervousness when he made a pass. I’ve known him long enough now. I saw what he was when I came in and I watched him grow and develop. Then I see where he is now.”
And Rodgers believes that it will be difficult for Armstrong to find the form of last season until his situation is resolved.
“I think it’s difficult,” said the Celtic manager. “There are certain characteristics with players who can. Some players can do it, I’ve had players before like that. I had Suarez who got through it.
“It’s just the mechanics of the different type of person. But that’s something you have to do.
“No matter what’s going in with the background noise, your money is in your bank every month and every day you’ve got to perform.
“And if not then it’s very simple; I don’t pick the team, the players pick the team. I can mould them and construct them to work a certain way but that’s how the game goes.
“Listen, Stuart is fine. He’ll be in the squad and he’s a player I’ve really enjoyed working with.
“That’s one of the frustrations of this, for me, because it’s such a simple deal.
“Six months ago it should have been organised, sorted and done.
“And how modern football works, if a club wants you from the Premier League they’ll pay for you. Christ Almighty, they’ll pay for you.
“If you’re a player up here in Scotland you don’t need to worry about signing a new deal thinking it’s going to hold you back.
“The game has changed. It doesn’t work like that. You can gain yourself six months’ money and still go if that’s what you want to do.”